Gone shark fishing

A lone fishing boat in False Bay seen from Cape Point. At the far end is Muizenberg peak.
Actually it might look like a fishing boat, but it is a shark research vessel for Ocearch which is rather controversial as they use chumming (throwing bait into the water) to attract sharks for filming and tagging, and many people are totally opposed to this practice of interfering with nature as, they rightly point out, the behaviour of all wild animals is modified by humans feeding them. They become habituated to the feeding and end up becoming a nuisance to humans - caused by humans in the first place. But they have a permit from the authorities ...

Mini-haha

One of the tourist adventure things to do around Cape Town is to go shark cage diving, although many Capetonions blame the spate of shark attacks on this activity as they lure the sharks in close to the coast by laying a scent trail or "chumming". On one of my frequent trips to the airport this week, I was amused by this clever ad for the feisty little mini.

Whale watching

Walking up the mountain above Kalk Bay this hazy morning we passed the Kalk Bay Shark Spotter who said he had not seen any sharks but pointed out plenty of Southern Right Whales.
Shark Spotters are positioned at strategic points along the Cape Peninsula, primarily along the False Bay coastline. If a shark is seen, they signal the beach spotter who sounds a siren and raises a white flag with a black shark which alerts surfers and swimmers to the presence of a shark.

Bathing dangerous

False Bay has a bad reputation when it comes to sharks so there is now an efficient system of Shark Spotters who keep an eye on shark movements. This lady in the photo is a Shark Spotter and has a mobile phone that is in contact with Shark Spotters up on the hill. We wondered if she was going to tell the chap swimming to get out - but no - there must have been no sharks about. She seemed more bothered by the strong rip current. There is an interesting information centre at St James all about sharks that is well worth a visit.